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6 Leaders of Tomorrow! APRIL/MAY 1998 MBC Wolverine OBSERVER
Pictured left to right: Dr. Gloria Anderson, Interim President, Abram Mathipa Rakau, Phuti Helen Rakau (his mother), alumna Chuck Barlow.
South African Dual
Degree Recipient
by Carvel Bennett,
staff writer
little over three years
ago Adram Mathipa Rakau
worked in the Kloof gold
mines outside Johannesburg, South
Africa. Today he has mined another
kind of gold - dual degrees from the
Georgia Institute of Technology and
Morris Brown College.
He graduated from high school
in 1985 (he didn’t attend school in
1984 due to political unrest in South
Africa) and worked in the gold mines
to support his long ambition - go to
college and get a degree in civil en
gineering. However, he soon real
ized that his dream was not going
to become a reality in South Africa
so he contacted the American Con
sulate in order to get information
on scholarship and admissions
procedures to US colleges and
universities.
Among the many pieces of infor
mation Abram received was a bro
chure/application package from
Clark Atlanta University. Later
when he applied, he was told that
they were filled and forwarded his
credentials to Morris Brown. Direc
tor of International Student Serv
ices, attorney Leroy Evans, received
the information and started to assist
him. Attorney Evans informed him
that the Mayor of Atlanta, Bill
Campbell, was leading a trade dele
gation to South Africa (Johannes
burg) and suggested that Abram try
to meet with the delegation. The
purpose being, to see if anyone in
the delegation could assist him
with funding his education at
Morris Brown.
Abram was used to challenges,
he had worked as a safety inspector,
mine support installer, and drilled
holes for explosives in the Kloof
mines. He would meet with the
delegation. He got special permission
from the US Consul General to meet
with Mayor Campbell and set out on
his journey. When he got there, the
delegation had already left for the
day. Abram waited at the consulate
until they got back later that
evening.
He was introduced to Mayor
Campbell by a member of the dele
gation Ms. Stacy Davis of (Fannie
Mae, Atlanta). He then informed the
mayor that he had been accepted to
Morris Brown but lacked the finan
cial resources to attend. MBC
alumna, Chuck Barlow, also a part
of the delegation, took up his cause
and promised to see what he could
do to assist. The delegation then
returned to Atlanta.
Chairman of the Board of Trus
tees, AME Bishop Donald Ming,
later got involved and with the assis
tance of Mayor Campbell, interna
tional correspondences, meetings
and long distance calls, Abram
secured a scholarship to Morris
Brown College. He arrived on
campus in 1995.
He graduated in April (1998) with
a degree in Civil Engineering from
the Georgia Institute of Technology
and will graduate in May with an
other degree from Morris Brown
College in Mathematics. Abram
plans to return to South Africa and
start his own civil engineering com
pany. He hopes to be able to provide
scholarships for others to attend
Morris Brown. He will work with
Beers Construction company here in
Atlanta until he returns to South
Africa in December.
Shoping for Student Loan:
All loans are not the same
It’s that time of year again. You’ve
submitted Your Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and
you’re waiting to review your Stu
dent Aid Report (SAR). In just a few
months, you’ll receive your financial
aid award for the 1998-99 school
year. After applying for college fi
nancial aid once or twice, you proba
bly can recite the process in your
sleep.
While reapplying for financial aid
is a pretty routine process, applying
for a student loan isn’t. Did you
know that not all student loans are
the same? The difference is in the
repayment options your lender of
fers. It may seem a little early to
think about repaying your loan, but
the extra thought you put into
choosing a lender now is worth the
hundreds of dollars you’ll save later.
“Many students don’t realize the
difference between student loan
lenders,” says Steve Stocks, Direc
tory of Financial Aid Services, Sallie
Mae. “Choosing a lender that offers
money-saving programs can save
borrowers hundreds of dollars in re
payment.”
When choosing your lender for the
1998-99 school year, be sure the fi
nancial institution offers borrower
benefits that can reduce your re
payment costs and help you manage
your loans. Lenders that partner
with Sallie Mae offer three money
saving programs:
The Great Rewards ® Program
reduces the interest rate on your
federal Stafford loan by two full per
centage points after you make the
first 48 payments on time. A typical
borrower with $10,000 in student
loans would save $578 at current
interest rates (8.25% over a 10-year
repayment term.
The Great Returns sm Program
credits your account with Stafford
loan origination fees paid in excess
of $250. That would mean a savings
of $97 to a student who borrows
$10,000.
The Direct Repay sm Plan cuts
your interest rate by %% when you
authorize Sallie Mae to automati
cally transfer your monthly loan
payment from your checking or sav
ings account. For the student who
borrowed $10,000, Direct Repay
would save a total of $242 in interest
payments.
Through the combination of Great
Rewards, Great Returns and direct
Repay, students borrowers can save
a substantial amount of money.
Borrowers with $10,000 in loans can
save a total of more than $866
through these money-saving bor
rower programs.
Also be sure your lender offers
flexible repayment alternatives and
toll-free customer service knowl
edgeable representatives who are
available after regular business
hours.
For more information, talk to your
financial aid administrator or check
out Sallie Mae’s Web site at
www.salliemae.com.
Students also may call Sallies
Mae’s toll-free financial aid hotline
at 1-800-891-4599, Monday through
Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST.
Sallie Mae, which services one in
three outstanding federal student
loans, is the nation’s largest source of
funding and servicing support for
education loans for students and
their parents.
CICEEO'S
COENEE
WHY?
by Wylene Jones-Moore
Ask me why I need you.
Ask why I care.
Ask me why whenever you call
I’ll always be right there.
Ask me why when skies are dark
Your presence brightens my world.
Ask me why your love is more precious
Than the ocean’s most beautiful black
pearl.
Ask me why when you don’t call
My heart aches and I feel so blue.
Ask if there's someone else for me.
Not hardly, after loving you.
There’s really not a need to ask at all
For your love is so dear to me
Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall
From now until eternity.